A Frugal Life

I had a discussion today about how "we can't afford to buy this, and that..."  And afterwards I started thinking about how I presented myself. 

Aaron and I are in a spot in our life where we are watching our finances pretty closely.  We somewhat follow Mary Hunt's Debt Proof Living system and it works pretty well when we stick with it. 

We are living frugally, with a baby on the way, Aaron in school and me not working, that's the best decision we can make.  Neither one of us wants to start living off of credit. 

Yet, by saying that we can't afford this or that, I'm doing myself a disservice.  The truth is- we CHOOSE not to afford name brand items.  We CHOOSE not to go out to eat.  We CHOOSE not to spend money when we go on dates.  We CHOOSE to make do with our older clothes.
And today was a day that it was getting me down.  It's hard sometimes to pass things up, hard sometimes to not just stop at the gas station for a pop or what-ever.  It's hard to feel like we don't have the money for that. 

And then I stopped to remember that we're choosing this. We're choosing to pass up these little things that don't matter in the long run.  We're choosing to use the money we spend on important items- like trips to see my family- things that make us happy and give lasting memories.  It's not that we don't have the money for the little things, it's that we are choosing what we spend our money on. 

When you live a frugal life, it's all about making the best of it! :)